The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-10-12

contemplated improvements, and urged The
board to appeal to the people of the State
In this connection Gov. McEnery wrote:
''This great charity, in it's pressing exigea;
cies, appeals strongly to the feelings, Of
every one. Every enlightened citizen in this
ton, coupled with moral oblieati to as
sist it, The present railroad enterprises in
Louisiana, the increasing commerce OF New
Orleans. and other demands for labor in
stantIy throwing an increased number Of sick
and suffering, upon the public. Every, indi-
vidual and all corporations are directly In
terested in the improvements and enlarge:
ment OF the hospital. and if appealed to
have no doubt y contribute ar per, 1Sd TO-
to suggest to the Board of Administrators Of
the Charity Hospital that they inhugurste
means to appeal to the public sympathy. and
that in the City of New Orleans and in every
lists be duly circulated, and that the interest
in railroads, factories and corporations be
appealed to. The result will / think. be q
liberal response.
The Governors suggestion was adopted
the appeal was made, the response was i'm
to the donations the available funds at their
disposal, the Board of Administrators went
to work and soon were able to announce the
compile ton Of all the proposed improvements.
Az appear WAS tneu inaue 70 tns puppy III pc
half Of the ambulance service, which also
met with liberal response. and the admin
istrators, as already stated, were enabled to
get this service in operation early in Febru-
airy, 1888.
THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
of the hospital have kept pace with the ex-
ternal. The demands upon it have constant
ly increased, but they have always been fully
met. Some idea OF these demands may be
gained by statement of the fact that during
the year 1885 the aggregate number of
patients in the hospital was 6363. In addi-
ton IS, 336 applications were made for re-
lief. in both medical and surgical cases by
hospital, but attended the outdoor clinic,
making altogether the grand total OF nineteen
tho'tsa1.d sir hu,,d,ea ana nt'etl-nii1c persons
treated by the hospital staff during the year.
treated was 1856, showing for 1855 an in
crease of one hundred per cent. The reye-
nues OF the hospital in 1882 were s110,-
3S2 42, as against ,s13S, $3.50 81 in 1885.
That the administration OF the hospital has
been economical az well az efficient is evil
denced by the fact that, although no proper
expense has been spared in caring for the
sick, each individual living within the hos
pital limits, including officials, attendants,
etc., has only cost an average OF forty cents
per day.
The Board of Administrators, to whom the
admirable results above chronicled are due,
is composed as follows: Gov. s. D. McEnery,
ex oficio president; DR.. Thomas Layton, vice
president: Richard Sinnott, I. L: Airey, John
child, Samuel Boyd and Joseph N. Rice.
Messrs. NJ. D. Lagap, Charles Laiitte and P.
Buchanan were also members OF the board
during portion Of the time: The hospital
officers are: DR.. A. b. Miles. house surgeon;
DR.. 7. ". Parham, assistant house surgeon:
Edwin Marks, secretary and treasurer; DR..
H. d. Schmidt, pathologist; John johnson,
chemist and druggist: j. G. De Many, clerk;
John Pander, engineer.
THE CHARITY HOSPITAL AT SHREVEPORT.
This institution was established in 1876,
and has afforded relief to the suffering poor
Of the entire section cont gnoqs to Shreve;
appropriation Of $40, 900 by the State,
which was renewed by the Legislature in
1856. Although purely State lnstitution.
it was not under State control until last year,
BY the Governor and the authorities Of
Shreveport. The result was lack Of har-
mony and, consequently, Of efficiency in the
management. In his last message to- the
Legislature Gov. McEnery called attention to
the disagreements between the trustees, re-
that the State should assume entire control
of the institution His views were adopted by
the Legislature and an act passed vesting the
appointment of the entire Bosrd of Trustees
in hS Goyerno The good ess of this
in harmony is in control Of the institution,
and it is in sytematic and thorough working
order. The hospitals now located, and has
been since its establishment in q rented
building near Arsenal Hill, but the Board of
ton permanent ,hospital, building on
Texas street. It will be a handsome and
ornamental structure, with frontage of
215 feet. and will furnish ample accommo-
dstiions for 100 patients. Wien completed it
will be model building for its purpose, fully
provided with all modern conveniences: The
funds for the construction of this building
were appropriated by the Legislature some
years ago, but the appropriation. was NOS
utilized until the present, Board of Trustees
monument to their energy and good man.
agement and that of the McEnery admins
tration.
The hospital at Shreveport treats annually
from. 1900 to 1900 patients. Its facilit!es
building is completed.
The new. Board of Trustees. that has SO
auspiciously entered. upon its duties is com
posed as follows: ]. B. Smith, president;
John J. Koran, W. 2. Hamilton, J; N.
H 2s b. B r. As Ashton Is f. G snfse o. M
charge; Mr.. Walter Jackson is secretary and
treasurer.
THE CHARITY HOSPITAL AT ALEXANDRIA.
During Gov. McEnery's administration ap-
preparations aggregatinG S12, 500 have been
made to secure, suitable building, for the
Charity Hospital at Alexandria. Ths work
hospital, when in operation, will furnish
needed relief to the INDECENT sick of Central
Louis ana.
THE STATE INSANE ASYLUM.
At no time since its establishment has the
State Insane Asylum at Jackson, La, been 30
fruitful of results looking to the care and
comfort of the unfortunates, confined within
Coy. McEne1y, In fact, no other admins
tration can be mentioned in this connection
even as q basis Of comparison. From a
small, illy-provlGed,, and in every way made
quata institution, it has grown, under the
fostering care Of the Governor and the able
Board OF Directors chosen by him, into al
| admirably managed. fully equipped and well
supported asylum, in every way credit to
! the State. Since 1S79 the capacity OF the
! Insane Asylum has been largely more than
| trebled. The unfortunate insane, formerly
| confined in the various police jails, or the
| equally ill-suited city insane asylum, have
been, IN most instances, removed to the
Jackson Asylum, where, surrounded by com
most skillful expert medical attention, every
possible care is lavished upon them calcu.
lated to amcliorate their condition and re.
store them to their families and society. II
is true that all the INDECENT insane Of til.
State are NOT yet confined in the asylum
at Jackson, because of lack of necessary
accommodations, which it is hoped the
large number who are now confined
there are fully provided for, as result Of
excellent management rather than an in
crease of appropriations for the support O.
the institution. This is readily shown b,
comparison. In 1879 so the maximum ca
pacity of the insane asylum was patients
AT the present time the number of patients
is arc, or rather more than the actual ca
pacity OF the institution. The amount ex
pended for the maintenance of the institu
capita. while for the years 1Ss4-s6 tn
amount per capita was only sl07 G2. II
other words with an increased expenditur,
| of about 20 per cent, considerably more
| than LOO per cent of patients have been pro